in 1924 he joined Carlson and Kruse in the ranks of the Workers Party of America, "legal" successor to the underground communist movement. The YPSL organization survived the defection of its third leader and were active in the Socialist Party-endorsed campaign of Robert M. La Follette for President of the United States in 1924. An attempt was made to start a new official publication for the organization called Free Youth, but the effort failed due to lack of funds, with the membership of the Socialist Party down to about 10% of where it stood five years previously. With the rest of the Socialist Party, the YPSL entered five years of decline and malaise following the unsatisfying outcome of the 1924 campaign. Growth in the early 1930s The Great Depression beginning in 1929, combined with a new and energetic Socialist Party leadership around 1928 Presidential Candidate Norman Thomas and party Executive Secretary Clarence Senior lead to a revitalization of the Socialist Party's youth wing, as the YPSL grew along with the adult party. According to National Secretary Emanuel Switkes, at the end of 1930 the national YPSL organization had about 1500 members, divided into 65 branches in 25 cities of 9 states. The for a time the YPSL was subdivided into two divisions, a "junior" group including boys and girls from the ages 13 to 16 and a "senior" group of young women and men aged 16 to 30. The organization raised funds and collected clothing for strikes in Danville, Virginia and Ward, West Virginia, and assisted in picketing on behalf of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, the Amalgamated Clothing Workers Union, the Furriers Union, the Retail Clerks Union, and others. The group also held a jamboree in Reading, Pennsylvania, the national headquarters of the YPSL organization. The official organ of the YPSL during the depression decade was a monthly tabloid newspaper launched in April 1933 initially called The Challenge, the name later being changed to The Challenge of Youth. The YPSL also produced a theoretical magazine and discussion bulletin called Young Socialist Review, which was available for 10 cents a copy. The magazine seems to have appeared irregularly. National chairman of the YPSL in 1935 was Arthur G. McDowell and national secretary was Winston Dancis. Red Falcons In 1933 the party established a children's organization known as the Red Falcons of America, targeted at children who might otherwise be